Land Trust of the Upper Arkansas Board Members

Frosty Roe - President

(Chaffee County) Frosty graduated from Buena Vista High School and attended the United States Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY graduating with highest honors in 1978. After spending 25 years as a deck officer traveling the globe, he retired from the high seas in 2002. Roe became very involved as a landowner/neighborhood coordinator in an effort that resulted in 8 easements totaling some 400 acres surrounding the Heckendorf State Wildlife Area to be placed in conservation easements with LTUA in 2003. He brings first hand experience with the demands of the conservation easement process as well as a landowner's perspective to the board. He's an avid outdoorsman, skier, golfer, mountain bike rider and seldom bored retiree.

Hayden Mellsop - Vice President

(Chaffee County) Hayden has been a resident of Chaffee County for over twelve years. He first came to the Arkansas Valley from his native New Zealand in 1990, and spent many years working as a whitewater and fly fishing guide on rivers and streams throughout the west. In 1996, he married Kym after they met in Salida in 1994, Kym grew up in San Francisco.

Hayden currently works as a realtor with Pinon Real Estate Group. He is a keen fly fisherman, father of two young daughters and joined the board of LTUA in late 2006. Hayden regards the upper Arkansas Valley as a very special community, and is committed to help preserve its character and charm for the benefit of future generations.

Jack Close - Secretary

(Chaffee County) earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Now retired, his 35 years of work experience includes engineering, sales, commercial development and general management in the chemical industry. Locally he has served on the Chaffee County Planning Commission for 5 years and is President/Director of the Mesa Antero Water Association. He is one of the incorporators of the LTUA.

Jim Keil, Treasurer

(Fremont County), now semi-retired after 31 years in Software Development with IBM in Storage, Printing, and Global Services. Additionally, he worked for two years as an Information Technology consultant for Y2K readiness in the Insurance Industry. He earned a BA from the University of Colorado. He brings years of management and business planning experience to the LTUA. Jim and his wife Dianne, have lived in Fremont County for six years.

Norm Wells

I was born in Denver in mid 1947 and was raised on a dairy farm, east of what is now Broomfield.  My father and mother was both native Coloradoan’s with my father hailing from Salida, Colorado.  Our dairy was small, 50 head of registered Guernsey cows, compared to a lot of other dairies.  After graduating from Holy Family High School, I attended Colorado State University earning a bachelor’s degree in Forest-Range Management.  Upon graduation from CSU, I started my 35 year career with the USDA-Soil Conservation Service (later to be known as “US Natural Resources Conservation Service) in Burlington, Colorado.  During my career, I also worked in Fort Collins, Brighton and Longmont.  I retired from the Brighton Field Office in October 2003 as a District Conservationist.  My career involved all aspects of conservation of our natural resources and land management planning.

Rob White

(Chaffee County) has served as Park Manager of the Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, jointly managed by Colorado State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management, since 2000. His career in State Parks includes over 15 years experience as a ranger, naturalist, and manager throughout Colorado. Rob received his BS in Park & Recreation Administration/Biology with a Secondary Teaching Certificate from Central Michigan University, and his MS in Park Administration/Fisheries & Wildlife Management from Michigan State University. Rob brings his resource management experience to the LTUA along with a deep knowledge of public process and an ability to facilitate communication between multiple parties. He enjoys exploring the beauty of the Arkansas River Valley and other special places in Colorado with his wife and two daughters.

Advisors

Bruce Goforth

Bruce Goforth, cofounder of LTUA, retired in the fall of 2005 as the Regional Habitat Manager with the Colorado Division of Wildlife for the Southeast Region of Colorado including the Arkansas Valley, the Pikes Peak Area, the Wet Mountain Valley, and the San Luis Valley. His role was to oversee the Division’s habitat enhancement, land use planning, environmental protection, water rights, GIS and real estate activities. Bruce served eight years as a charter member of the BLM’s Front Range Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) until 2003, was Land Steward for the Colorado Natural Area’s Program, past president of the Colorado Chapter of the Wildlife Society, long-term member of the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and the National Wildlife Federation. For twenty-four years, Bruce has been associated with one of Colorado’s oldest land trusts, the Palmer Foundation, as member, board member, land steward, and advisor. He secured the sponsorship of the Palmer Foundation for LTUA as part of his efforts to establish a local land trust in the Upper Arkansas Valley. Bruce was LTUA’s first president for two years from 2002-2004; succeeded by Fred Henderson III and then later served as President from 2004 to February 2007.  Bruce now serves as an advisor on the lands committee of LTUA.

Frederick B. Henderson III

(Chaffee County) was educated at Stanford and Harvard Universities and is an economic geologist and geochemist. After 2 years in the U.S. Navy, he spent 8 years in North and South America as an exploration and mining geologist for St. Joe Lead and Kaiser Aluminum mining companies. Returning to the U.S., Henderson worked at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and subsequently co-founded and served as president for the Geosat Committee, Inc., a non-profit organization supported by 150 international mining, petroleum and engineering companies dedicated to upgrading international satellite remote sensing systems for global geology. For the past 7 years, Henderson has been a partner for Hendco Services, a consulting firm focused on geology, remote sensing and the environment. Henderson is a member of the National Advisory Council of Environmental Policy and Technology for the EPA and a past Board Director for the Society of Mining Engineers (SME). Henderson brings extensive experience in geology, land use and water resource decisions, and group facilitation to LTUA.